# Chapter 75
“Something’s strange.”
Kang Jinwoo, who was lying on the rooftop floor as if it were his own bedroom and staring at the sky, muttered. I had been passing time by leaning against the wall and using my phone, but at the sound of his voice, I raised my head to look at him.
“What is it?”
“How many minutes have passed since we came up to the rooftop?”
“Umm… about an hour has passed—?”
Huh? An hour?
Even after checking the time, I couldn’t believe that an hour had already passed. Kang Jinwoo raised his upper body using momentum and then opened his mouth as if to prove a point.
“Even you find it strange, right? This definitely shouldn’t have taken an hour. Kwon Dojin said he would be back within thirty minutes.”
Unintentionally, I had skipped class and was trying to make the most of this time by watching online lectures at 2x speed. Perhaps because I was concentrating, I hadn’t noticed the passage of time.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t realize that this much time had passed?”
“I was watching online lectures…”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t even hear the dismissal bell…?”
Assumptions can kill a person. Since I genuinely hadn’t known, I avoided his gaze solemnly, which made Kang Jinwoo click his tongue.
“Call Kwon Dojin. I can’t stay here forever.”
“Just a moment.”
Following Kang Jinwoo’s suggestion, I took out my phone and called Kwon Dojin. Paradoxically, the moment I realized that the dismissal bell had rung, I became annoyed at Dojin, who still hadn’t arrived.
“No answer?”
“He usually would have answered by now, but he’s not picking up.”
Kang Jinwoo tapped the floor with his foot, pondering for a while before making a decision.
“I’ll go down first to assess the situation and bring Kwon Dojin.”
“Should I stay here then?”
“I don’t think going together would lead to anything good.”
There were no specific examples, but I couldn’t argue as I could roughly imagine the situation. So I slowly nodded, and he dusted off his backside and stood up.
From the time Kang Jinwoo left until Kwon Dojin came to get me, it took well over 30 minutes.
“Habin, about that—”
I glared at Kwon Dojin with a fierce look as he nervously glanced at me while dripping cold sweat. In response, he shrunk his shoulders with a wincing expression and tightly closed his mouth.
At this point, if I also kept my mouth shut, it seemed like the silence would continue forever, so I reluctantly spoke up.
“…Let’s go for now.”
“Where to?”
“Your house, where else?”
I was angry at Kwon Dojin for not keeping his word, but regardless of that, a promise was a promise. So I did go to his house with Dojin, who was unilaterally trying to gauge my mood.
Of course, after arriving, I continued to curl up at the end of the sofa, stubbornly looking at my phone while mentally repeating phrases like, “I don’t feel anything. I don’t hear anything. I’m dense, extremely dense,” brainwashing myself.
“Habin… I’m sorry.”
Kwon Dojin’s heartfelt voice circled the living room and dissipated, but I ignored it. Rather than that, I busily looked at photos that I had transferred to my phone using Kwon Dojin’s computer.
Objectively speaking, I knew it would seem ridiculous that I was ignoring Kwon Dojin right beside me while eagerly looking at photos of him taken during the sports festival.
But I had my reasons. Kwon Dojin had abandoned me on the rooftop with Kang Jinwoo first.
“I was wrong, okay?”
“If you know you were wrong, then reflect on it more.”
Of course, even if Kwon Dojin had never come to the rooftop, it wouldn’t have been a big issue. It wasn’t as if I was trapped; the rooftop was a space I could leave anytime I wanted.
Moreover, since I wasn’t in a state where I couldn’t judge the situation for myself, Kwon Dojin’s fault could be considered so minor that it might not even be called a fault. It would have been fine for me to leave the rooftop thinking, “He seems to be running late,” and then contact him afterward.
But I had believed Kwon Dojin’s words when he said he would finish and come back within thirty minutes. It was a kind of promise.
Anyway, but still, BUT STILL!
No matter how long I waited, Kwon Dojin didn’t come, and there was no news from Kang Jinwoo, who said he would bring Dojin. To make matters worse, I was also hungry.
In truth, if I had wanted to leave the rooftop, I should have moved the moment I realized that the dismissal bell had rung. But because of my judgment that “He’ll come if I wait a little longer,” I missed the timing and had to stay in that spot until Kwon Dojin arrived.
“Habin, I didn’t forget about you. Really.”
“Baek Han said you could have finished sooner.”
“That’s—. I didn’t know the time because I didn’t have my phone.”
“I see. So you didn’t know about the dismissal bell that rang throughout the school either. Even though you weren’t wearing earphones and weren’t alone.”
Urgh, a pained sound was heard. I could feel that Kwon Dojin had become dejected, but since my sulking mood hadn’t dissipated yet, I pretended not to notice. He was guilty of not finishing quickly even though he could have.
It would be fine if someone clicked their tongue at me for being childish. I was indeed acting childish right now.
With my lips pursed, I tapped the screen with my thumb to flip through the photos. Amidst all this, my anger was gradually dissipating because the Kwon Dojin captured in the photos was so handsome.
While I was engrossed in looking at the photos, a shadow fell over the screen. When I looked up, Kwon Dojin had leaned over the back of the sofa, bending his waist to look at me.
“Habin.”
“Hm—!”
Though his voice was low, a gentle whisper was heard nearby. The proximity, so close that I could even feel his breath, gave me goosebumps involuntarily, making me hunch my shoulders and half-recline against the sofa armrest.
“I’m right here beside you. Wouldn’t the living, moving me be better than those photos?”
“You, you—”
Today, I found myself frequently encountering situations where words failed me. As I moved my lips, expressing bewilderment, Kwon Dojin reached out and gently cupped my cheek.
“So forgive me, okay?”
His subtle eye-smile was utterly bewitching. While I wanted to look away, I also wanted to keep staring at that smile.
The moment I realized that I was being careful even with my own blinks, I knew.
I had lost. Completely, absolutely lost.
* * *
The school had been strange these past few days. More precisely, the students were. It was hard to pinpoint exactly. But that vague atmosphere I was sensing? It seemed to be at a breaking point.
Just in our class alone, the students were tense. Those who used to react to Kwon Dojin’s actions, whether big or small, no longer did so. It was as if they were preoccupied with something else and had no time to pay attention.
Resting my chin on my hand and scanning the class, everyone seemed to be pretending to be busy, as if they had coordinated it. They occasionally glanced in my direction, but then quickly looked away as if afraid our eyes might meet. To be honest, it didn’t feel good.
But since I couldn’t think of an appropriate response, I just let out a faint sigh. Hearing it, Kwon Dojin leaned towards me and whispered.
“Is something wrong?”
“No. Nothing.”
But I think something will happen soon.
Since it was just a prediction, I didn’t add the latter part. As Kwon Dojin was looking at me with his head slightly tilted, I gently shook my head to express once again that everything was fine.
At first, I was incredulous, wondering if Kwon Dojin couldn’t sense this precarious atmosphere, but as I observed him, I realized. He fundamentally lacked interest in others.
He was the type who wouldn’t give a glance if others were bickering or arguing, as long as it didn’t affect him. Well, that’s probably why he always found out about rank-related matters or rumors belatedly.
Still, shouldn’t he notice something strange when people who usually reacted to his actions were quiet?
While I was pondering whether Kwon Dojin was perceptive or not, the bell rang. The teacher, who had been conducting the ill-fated class where none of the students had been paying attention, gathered their materials neatly and left the classroom.
“Did they say we have a science performance assessment in 6th period?”
“Yes, they did.”
Even during my conversation with Kwon Dojin, I was bothered by the reactions of the class. I didn’t understand why they would flinch at our ordinary, everyday conversations that we would normally have without any issue, or why they would openly glare at us.
“It seems like it’s going to be annoying…”
A warning bell rang in my mind, indicating that another social hierarchy-related incident was about to occur. Kwon Dojin tilted his head again, expressing his confusion, but similarly, the only response I could give was that it was nothing.
It was frustrating, but unavoidable. After all, nothing had happened on the surface yet.
* * *
“Hmm…”
I spread out a letter that I had found inside an unknown envelope in my desk drawer. It was early morning, before Kwon Dojin had arrived at school, so only a few classmates were present.
“So old-fashioned.”
But it was a very effective method for shaking one’s mental state. I held the edge of the letter, filled with insults I’d rather not mention, and waved it gently.
As school events came one after another, various performance assessments also came in succession, so I had started coming to school early these days. The concentration that the spatial characteristics of school provided couldn’t be ignored.
It wasn’t a secret that I came to school early, so it would have been easy for someone to find out that I was alone during this time. And they probably also noticed that this was the perfect time to pull such a stunt, when Kwon Dojin wasn’t around.
Urgh, a moan involuntarily escaped. Did they not know that it’s better not to leave material evidence when trying to harass someone?
It’s difficult to change a situation with just one or two instances, but it’s different when several accumulate. Whether catching the ringleader or going straight to the police to report, methods always emerge in some way.
Honestly, considering this is a social hierarchy world setting, I don’t have expectations for the teachers. Given the peculiarity of the world setting, the profession of “teacher” had no credibility in these aspects.
Just like the messed-up world setting it is.
Anyway, more important than that was how far this bullying would escalate. In truly severe social hierarchy scenarios, I had seen collective beatings, but that might be difficult here.
Since I’m in the same class as Kwon Dojin and am attached to him without missing a moment, where would they find the time to hit me? Such things can only happen when both timing and situation align well.
“I should keep this.”
It would be good to diligently collect evidence, since we never know when or how things will unfold. Trusting in Kwon Dojin as a shield was good, but it would be hard to rush to him over just one letter.
Whether they were clever or not, neither the recipient nor the sender of the letter was specified. So I should also observe the situation appropriately…
But what if something major happens while I’m testing the waters? I don’t have the physical strength to protect myself. And as for connections, I actually do have some, don’t I?
In the world of students who valued all sorts of bluffs and appearances, connections like Kwon Dojin and Baek Han were as valuable as gold.
Anyway, what I needed to do for my own safety was clear. I had to avoid being alone as much as possible, and using Kwon Dojin as a shield, maintain the current peace as much as possible.
Running simulations in my head, it seemed quite doable. It was because there were several immediate scenarios I could think of based on social hierarchy dynamics. For instance, textbooks or belongings might disappear or get damaged, or minor announcements might not be shared with me alone.
“It should be fine.”
It would be annoying, but separately, I don’t think there would be major issues. Anyway, it wouldn’t work even if I wished, “Please don’t let the kids bully me,” so I should wish for something else.
Please let the kids act according to clichés.
